Outfit Post // My Grandmas Garden

Lately I’ve been in a bit of a rut when it comes to getting dressed in the morning. As in I just haven’t been getting dressed. Yep, workin’ in my pj’s all day! It really wasn’t helping my motivation levels and I was feeling a bit down.

 Purple Dress - Recycle Boutique, Black Camisole - Stolen from Mum, 

 Girl Guides Belt - Shop on Taieri,  Black & silver Glitter Heels - Warehouse, but glitter DIY'd by me!

So when I headed to Dunedin the other weekend I made a quick visit to Recycle Boutique which has moved around the corner from its old location. I did a quick survey of the specials rack and found this dress for $4.50! Its amazing how a small purchase like that can lift your spirits.

I’ve worn it a few different ways since I got it – with tights & boots, by itself with a camisole underneath & sandals and with a lace body suit peaking out and a cardigan. I love the little coloured flowers – they remind me of my Grandmas garden in spring. Thankfully this little dress has kick-started my love affair with my wardrobe again!

Oh - I can't forget the shoes. These used to be $60 at the Warehouse a few months ago. I held out for soooo long - and the other week they were marked down to $7.50!!!! They had a wood-grain bottom part on them, which I couldn't decide if I liked it or not, so I decided to glitter DIY (see my tutorial here!) them instead. They are my new favourite shoes - They're so easy to walk in with the super chunky heel! I can't wait to wear them out, but for the moment I'll just have to keep doing my housework while wearing them...

I hope you have all had a good week. We had a long weekend here with Waitangi Day, so I went to visit some friends and their new chocolate lab puppy called Gus – Hershey and him spent all afternoon playing together while us humans ate blueberries and had a BBQ on the deck. My Mum and Sister also came down from Dunedin for a visit and brought my little nephew with them, so we had a look around the shops and had a coffee date at a local pub. It was a nice weekend!

What have you been up to lately? Has it been sunny and warm where you are or have you been playing in the snow? I kinda hope we’ll get a decent dump of snow here this winter!

2nd Day of Christmas // Floral Fairy Headbands

I have two little Second Cousins who are only 1 and 3 so I wanted to make them something easy and sweet for Christmas. They are such cute little girls!! While my Cousins and I don’t really exchange presents anymore now we are all grown ups it’s nice to still give something to their children.

I came up with this idea after eying up my cake decorating supplies while I was trying to think of gift ideas. Hence the florists wire and tape! (indispensible for making flowers in cake decorating!)

They are pretty cheap to make and look so much cooler than the ones I have seen for sale in the shops. I reckon I could have got another one out of my leftover hydrangea flowers plus one more stem of mini roses.

 You will need;

Assorted fabric flowers of your choice (Try for ones with a little stem attached to flower)

Florists wire – 4 pieces. I used 22 gage. My headband was still quite flexible, so you could use  18 or 20 gage for a firmer headband. (Try somewhere like Spotlight or a Cake Decorators Shop)

Green florists tape (same as above)

Ribbon for extra decoration

Pliers

Scissors

1. Select which flowers you will be using and trim at base of stems (near stalk not petals!) using pliers or scissors.

2. Take 2 pieces of florists wire and tape together to form one thick piece. Repeat. (So you have 2) Pull the florists tape tight, it will become sticky and stick to itself!

3. Tape the two thickened wires together to form a circle – I guessed the size of a little girls head for mine.

4. Begin taping flowers and leaves to the wires using florists tape. Face them all the same direction on the first half of the headband. 

5. Once you have done one side, begin on the other. Start from the front of the headband and point the two middle flowers towards each other, then work your way towards the back.

6. Tie some ribbons in a bow at the back of the headband.

7. A better view of the ribbons at the back.

8. The finished headband!! All done!!

I can imagine lots little girls own a fairy dress and wouldn’t this make a nice change from a plastic fairy crown? They would also be a perfect birthday party favour!

I think I might go make one for myself now too...there’s nothing wrong with capturing your inner child is there?

Like all of my '12 Days of Christmas' DIY tutorials, there is a PDF version of this blog post here. Simpy click on the link, print out the tutorial and get to work. Easy as that. Feedback appreciated!

Make sure to check out the rest of my “12Days of Christmas” posts for more awesome decorating ideas, recipes, and gift ideas!

Life Lately // Law and Banana Cupcakes

Today I got to go watch my bf Andrew be admitted to the bar. He's the 4th generation in his family to do so! That's pretty cool. It was extra-awesome because the Judge who admitted him was also a 4th generation Lawyer too.

I made him a "Dress-the-Lawyer" doll secretly on the computer last night and emailed it to him this morning at work. He thought it was a pretty neat idea!!

One of his favourite flavours of cake is banana, so I made a bunch of banana cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery recipe I posted about last week. I topped them off with some cream cheese icing and smashed up banana chips and walnuts. I sent him off to work with these for an afternoon tea shout - I hope they went down well!!

What else have I been up to lately? I've been busily sewing a couple of dresses, one at home and one at dressmaking class. I can't wait to make more!! I just bought an overlocker on Trademe so I'm really excited to receive that and keep sewing. I'm in the midst of writing and photographing a Christmas special for my blog - with gift ideas, decorations and recipes. I can't wait to finish it and post it!! (it will be a series so a bit of a multiple post-fest!!)

Oh and a super important thing - I became an Aunty last Friday night!! My little nephew Jai arrived a couple of days after his due date. I can't wait to go up to Dunedin to meet him!!

I hope you've all had a great weekend and a smooth start to the week!!

Recipe Post // Banoffee Cupcakes

I'm always trawling through the recipe apps at the app store on my iPhone and the other day I came across one from Primrose Bakery. After having a quick look at the screen grabs I was smitten and immediateley downloaded it!

The first recipe I wanted to try was the Banoffee Pie Cupcakes. The cake itself is so yummy and moist! I decided to use the icing recipe I have been using for my other cupcakes. I made a plain buttercream icing and then added a couple of tablespoons of golden syrup to give it a yummy caramel flavour. 

Banoffee Cupcakes

125g Butter

250g Castor Sugar
2 Eggs
1 t Vanilla
250g Plain Flour
2 t Baking Powder
4 Ripe Bananas
Dried Banana Chips (to decorate)

Frosting:
115g Unsalted Butter (I just used salted - its cheaper!)
60ml Milk
500g Icing Sugar
2 T Golden Syrup

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a tray with paper cases.
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, add eggs one at a time until well combined.
Add the flour, vanilla and baking powder and mix again.
Mash the bananas and add, mixing again.
Spoon mixture into paper cases (I used a icecream scoop so they were all even-sized)
Bake for 25 minutes or unitl cooked through.
Leave to cool on a wire rack.

For the frosting:
Cream butter, milk, vanilla and 1/2 the icing sugar. Add the rest of the icing sugar and the golden syrup and beat to combine. Place in a piping bag with chosen nozzle attached and top cupcakes with frosting.

The recipe says it will make 12, but I managed to get 16 good-sized cupcakes out of it!

 

I think the app was $4-$5 NZ which isn't too bad for a recipe app that looks pretty, is easy to use and (so far!) gets yummy results! I took a bunch of cupcakes up to Dunedin with me to feed all of my family and they all gave them a thumbs up. 

I spent the weekend seeing 'Sleeping Beauty' with my sister, catching up with friends, shopping for summer dresses and I finally got a candy thermometer!! I can't wait to start making yummy Christmas treats.

Work is beginning to wind down for me now, as any consents for new buildings have to be in to the council within the next 2 weeks before they close over Christmas, so I'm gonna have plenty of time for baking, recipe posts and fun DIY's!

Are there any recipe apps you would recommend? What did you get up to in the weekend?

Insta-Fest // August

A little slice of my life in August through my iPhone!! I love this app so much. It's so handy and it makes all my pictures look great! 

Wearing my yellow scarf for the Phoenix soccer game, The view in the yellow fever section at the soccer, sunset through the cabbage trees in Invercargill, A bright, pretty new skirt, a naughty puppy on the leather lounge suite, a gorgeous vintage lace and silk playsuit for $2.50, a cupcake ring I purchased off Etsy, an old school desk I wanted to buy at the Habitat Store in Invercargill, The Habitat Restore I found in Invercargill = love, my awesome vintage patterned glass coffee mug for my office, the most amazing vintage macaroon bag I found at Recycle Boutique for $8, Hershey sleeping on my feet in the sunshine.

Do you use Instagram too? Tell me your username in the comments so I can check out your pics and we can follow each other! My name is Sparkleylining. 

  

Cake Decorating // Gardener Pop

Two weeks ago it was my Granddad's (well, Pop's!) birthday. My Mum made him a yummy Hummingbird cake with banana and pineapple in it and I made a cake topper to go on it.

My Grandad loves his garden and growing vegetables. At Christmas we often have tasty new potatoes fresh out of his garden and me and my sister used to climb over the carrots, etc to get to the peas and eat them straight out of the pods!

I was so happy with how this came out. Making a standing fondant person is hard work! He has strategically placed toothpicks to help him stand up. It probably took me 3 hours to make the whole thing. It was worth it, my Grandad loved it and took a picture of it on his camera too!

Have you ever had a play with fondant icing? Would anyone like any tips? I have an entire cake-sized container full of different coloured fondant at home! 

My 4th of July - Hershey's First Birthday!

 Hershey - 8 weeks

Hershey - 1 Year

Hi friends! Introducing you to my gorgeous puppy, Hershey. Today is her 1st Birthday, so of course a mini celebration was in order involving cake like things...unfortunately Hersh has a food allergy meaning she isn't supposed to eat anything except her dog biscuits, but she got a new toy to mark the day instead.

I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream icing, topped with a gingerbread dog bone covered in purple fondant to match her name tag she wears on her collar. 

I can't believe its been a year since I got her! There's been ups and downs, the time she ate the tv remote, the bf's playstation controller, ALL of our couch cushions, but of course there are always good times too! Plenty of cuddles, tug of war and exciting car trips where she "talks" the whole way because she is so excited...

I hope all my readers over in the USA have a great 4th of July!!

Do you guys have pets? What are their names? Are they well behaved?

Cake Decorating Class - Clematis

I'm so proud of myself - I did my homework for a change! I made a Clematis this week. We're getting into the more complex flowers at class now, including Gerbera's, orchids and Lilies. I need to make sure I get on top of all my homework as I'll be moving down to Invercargill soon and away from my weekly classes. Luckily the teacher is awesome and is promising to send me class notes so I can continue by myself down there! Pretty cool.

I mentioned in my last post I was going down to Invercargill to review the Stravinsky Selection. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling well enough to drive all the way down there, watch the ballet, write the review and head home again the next morning, so I had to cancel. I wish I had been able to! A bit of bad timing. Oh well, I'm looking forward to Sleeping Beauty at the end of the year!

I hope everyone has had a fun weekend, I went to check out Dunedin's new stadium, a bird show where my Grandad had a couple of birds entered and went out for dinner with some friends. Bring on the new week!